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I recently took my son to the pediatrician for his 4 month check-up. During this particular doctor’s visit he received a round of immunization shots. For me, shot day for my baby can be a little nerve wrecking. Prior to his doctor’s visit, I was wondering, “will he be cranky afterwards? Will the shot cause some sort of adverse reaction? Will his leg be sore as a result of having been stuck with a needle?” Allowing my children to be vaccinated was a no brainer for me. I was vaccinated, my parents were vaccinated and their parents were vaccinated – this is what everyone does, right? Wrong, medical professionals strongly suggest that children get vaccinations, however, the final choice is up to the parents.

The Cause

After being approached about donating my blog to charity, I further researched the nonprofit Shot@life (www.shotatlife.org). I soon learned how fortunate we are in the United States where we are privy to modern medicine and vaccinations for our children. In this country we can actually choose to vaccinate or not vaccinate our babies.

Some interesting facts I learned:

v That 1 in 5 children around the world does not have access to the vaccines that they need to survive.

v Around the world, a child dies every 20 seconds from a disease that can be prevented by a vaccine.

v The number of children dying from preventable diseases in developing countries is nearly equivalent to half the number of children entering kindergarten in the United States.

v The Measles Initiative has vaccinated one billion children in 60 developing countries since 2001, decreasing world measles deaths by 74 percent.

v The world is 99 percent polio-free, and polio eradication is within reach.

If you ever want to look at the other side, using the CDC’s own studies to show that vaccines are not proven to be safe and effective, look into Dr. Tenpenny’s articles and dvds. It is truly heart-stopping. I love that she is a physician who gave vaccines for years, then decided to look closer at the ingredients and research (or lack of research) done on these vaccines before they are given to babies and young children. Sorry to give such a yucky perspective, but I care too much to not at least mention it! 🙂